Sean Lee Injury: Cowboys Defense Embarrassing Without Stud ILB

Sean Lee is the NFL’s best run defense.

The Dallas Cowboys starting inside linebacker was sidelined late in the first quarter with a wrist injury (via ESPN) against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.  Following his departure, Keith Brooking began to trend on Twitter for reasons that weren’t so positive for the Cowboys.  The 36-year-old Brooking looked his age as the Eagles ran all over him and the Dallas defense for 140 yards in the first half which lead to a 24-0 lead.

Rob Ryan is going to beat the what out of the All-Hype Team?

Dallas ranked first in the entire league in run defense heading into the game.  Apparently that was all Lee’s doing because the Cowboys look like they have the worst run defense in the league without him.  Lee led the team in tackles with 57 through six weeks while safety Gerald Sensabaugh was second on the team with 27.

SNFonNBC tweeted following Lee’s injury that he was taken to the locker room for X-rays.  Dallas can’t afford to lose Lee for a lengthened period of time.  Without the former Penn State linebacker, their defense has been absolutely exposed.

On top of tackles, Lee leads the team in interceptions so their pass defense will also take a hit.  At 3-4, the Cowboys are going to be in win-now mode sooner rather than later this season.  Dallas needs Lee to win now.

Tony Romo isn’t good enough to win football games in a shootout with zero defense.  He needs the Cowboys’ defense to at least slow down opposing offenses and without Lee, it looks like that will be a difficult task going forward.  Hopefully for Dallas, Lee has nothing more than a minor sprain because a break could break the Cowboys postseason dreams.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.  Follow him on Twitter.